A Canadian Tragedy

Most Americans don’t realize that Toronto, Ontario: Canada is the fifth largest city in North America, as of the 2010 census. And before the end of October, no one really knew or heard of its mayor, Rob Ford.Americans shouldn’t be snickering over the troubles Mayor Ford is having right now. After all, former Washington DC Mayor Marion Barry had his share of issues back in the 1980s. And, there are so many others.

The issues at hand for Mayor Ford have been well-documented over the last several weeks. These include his self-admitted alcohol and cocaine abuse, his allegedly violent temper, as displayed during an explosive interview with CNN’s Bill Weir, and other examples of imbalance.

When asked why he had decided to come out with the truth now, Ford swore at Weir saying, “I’m not gonna run around and be phony and lie… I was tired of all these allegations and bullsh*t. Excuse my words. Sorry, I shouldn’t swear in front of the kids.”

Mayor Ford was stripped of most of his power Monday in a chaotic City Council vote that occurred after the embattled pol got into a screaming match with the public and accidentally bowled over a fellow councilor.

An agitated Ford was caught on video charging toward the Council’s galley during the tense vote, apparently to come to the assistance of his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, who had entered into a verbal confrontation with a spectator.

But as he ran, the overweight Ford slammed into Councilor Pam McConnell, knocking her down. Ford quickly caught McConnell and helped her back up, before returning to the Council floor, and apologized for the accident.

The Council later voted to strip Ford of many of his powers as mayor and cut the budget of his office by 60%. The measure, which also allows his staff to defect to the office of the deputy mayor, effectively leaves Ford with no legislative power.

Sadly, this popular politician may have someday become Prime Minister of Canada. But now, he is reduced to a joke for late night TV hosts, both in the United States and Canada. And who is suffering from this humiliation the most? His family.

His life is very fragile now and needs to recognize that. He needs to resign now and take care of what is truly important in his life or soon, he will be alone with no one to support him in his recovery.

And that would be the saddest outcome of all.